A mobile projector in your pocket

Microvision unveiled an advanced prototype of a handheld, battery-powered, 'plug-and-play' projector based on а single micro-mirror laser scanning display technology at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas.

Code-named SHOW, the new pico projector is intended for mobile devices. SHOW is said to directly connect to laptops, mobile phones, portable media players, digital cameras and other mobile devices to project high-resolution images and video onto any surface.

The images projected can range anywhere from 12 inches (30 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the projection distance. More importantly, the projected images are always in focus due to the specifics of the laser technology used.

The retail version of the device is expected to offer approximately 2.5 hours of continuous battery life, sufficient to watch a full-length movie without a need for recharging. Microvision reports that SHOW can project a DVD quality image with up to WVGA (848 X 480 pixels) resolution.

It is very important to mention that the SHOW projector technology can be embedded into mobile consumer products, which greatly facilitates watching clips and images without the need of large expansive displays.

Other prototype that was showcased at CES is based on the Texas Instruments pico-projection technology, initially announced during the 2007 CTIA Wireless convention. Unlike the Microvision's device, which is almost ready to see its retail version, the TI device was exhibited to show the Texas Instruments willingness to implement the technology as soon as a major player occurs. Till now, there are no concrete plans to develop a retail TI pico-projector device.

Texas Instruments early conceptual pico-projector

Other than Microvision and Texas instruments, 3M has also stated their plans to develop tiny projectors with the unveiling of a 0.5-inch wide projector prototype capable ot projecting a 40-inch image. The projector unit has compact-mobile-phone dimensions so it can be incorporated in mobile phones, too.